Apple's iPad: Year One Video • (Leo & me at 0:55)

8.17.2006

Our week without Iz and Seymour has been an interesting one. Even though Leelo ran out of extended release Adderupp two days ago and has been getting dosed from the short-acting emergency stock, even though I am being lenient with sugar and have been letting him have sweets such as madeleines and PB&J's, our boy has been going to sleep at night with relative ease--voluntarily, and without his usual hour of jack-in-the-boxing every 30 seconds. A miracle!

Less miraculous is his potty training, which has entered a doldrums phase. He hasn't woken up dry in at least two weeks, though he still has lots of pee on his waking visit to the toilet. He is good about holding it for at least 90 minutes during waking hours, but even so we are somehow going through three or four pullups a day. Those fuckers are expensive, and Leelo's 4T-5T size is not sold in bulk at C0stco like its more popular smaller cousins.

Our profligate pullup usage results from Leelo's lack of interest in civilizing his bowels. Seymour is not here to be completely appalled, so I have been demonstrating successful colon-to-toilet bowl transfers whenever possible. Leelo does not seem impressed, though he does appreciate the extra opportunities for a good flush.

Since Leelo absolutely will not poop in the toilet, Supervisor M suggested to instead place him on the pot in his pullup and let him see if he can produce in that position instead of the Britney Birthing stance he prefers. I would follow her advice if I could catch Leelo in time, but he is too wily--and so has been having accidents almost every day in terms of breaching the rear dam and compromising his outfit. It is all very frustrating because he does have some awareness of his BM's--the one evening this week he didn't go to sleep immediately was when he had a late-night load coming.

Mali seems to sense that our usual nightly drama quotient is not being met, and is staying up until midnight most evenings. Oh, it is a happy happy mother who thinks she is nursing her child to sleep only to have said child end the session by announcing, "Nursing all done!" and by implication declaring a iFiesta! for the next two hours.

I can't put her in a mesh bag and hang her outside my window because she is just too goddamned cute. Especially since she decided that full sentences were cool, about two weeks ago . She makes her own constructions, e.g., "Here comes the boat!" "I see a mirror" etc. She also uses a lot of echolalia--not only as my personal parrot, but also for storing phrases for later contextual usage, e.g., coming up to me and declaring, "What are we going to do?" if she'd like me to play with her.

Apologies to those of you who are saccharine-intolerant, but I can't describe this language phase as anything other than darling. Even at my most sleep-deprived, I melt at a wee little thing spontaneously putting her head on my shoulder, giving me a squeeze, and then declaring, "I love you!" Or saying, "Bless you, Mama" when I sneeze.

She is singing along with a lot of songs, some with movements even (e.g., Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes). She knows what colors are, even though they're all yellow. She loves to recite numbers in sequence (no, it is not counting), will steal pens, pencils, or crayons from anyone and draw on anything. She is observant--unlike her siblings and her mom--finding and labeling tiny objects in pictures and in her environment, always recognizing when we're at a train crossing or station even if the location is novel.

I wish I wasn't so tired, and that I could appreciate both Leelo's and Mali's current phases more--or at least do a better job of documenting them so that I could appreciate them in hindsight.

Seymour and Iz are coming home late tonight. They should be well rested after their boating week, so perhaps they can do some intensive appreciating of the two smallest members of our family--while I sleep.